Cryptography is the foundation of every secure system — HTTPS, authentication, data protection. This course covers the concepts and algorithms every developer and security professional needs to understand.
This is a text-first course that links out to the best supporting material on the internet instead of trying to replace it. The goal is to make this the best course on cryptography you can find — even without producing a single minute of custom video.
You don't need to understand the modular arithmetic behind RSA to understand how public key cryptography works and when to use it. Intuition first.
Every cryptographic concept in this course is connected to how it's used in practice: HTTPS, JWT tokens, password storage, digital signatures.
Computerphile's cryptography videos are the best visual explanations available. This course links to them at the relevant moments.
Each day is designed to finish in about an hour of focused reading plus worked examples. No live classes, no quizzes.
Each day stands alone. Read them in order for the full picture, or jump straight to the day that answers the question you have today.
AES block cipher, modes of operation (CBC, GCM), key sizes, IV/nonce. How symmetric encryption works and when to use each mode in practice.
RSA and ECC key pairs, public/private keys, digital signatures, key exchange (Diffie-Hellman). Why asymmetric crypto solves the key distribution problem.
SHA-256, SHA-3, MD5 (broken), password hashing (bcrypt, Argon2). Hash collisions, rainbow tables, and why you never store plain passwords.
TLS handshake, certificate chains, certificate authorities, HTTPS. How the browser verifies server identity and establishes encrypted communication.
JWT tokens, OAuth, end-to-end encryption, common implementation mistakes. The cryptographic decisions developers make every day and how to make them correctly.
Instead of shooting our own videos, we link to the best deep-dives already on YouTube. Watch them alongside the course. All external, all free, all from builders who ship this stuff.
How AES symmetric encryption works — block cipher modes, key sizes, and the mathematical operations under the hood.
How public key cryptography works — the key distribution problem, RSA key generation, and digital signatures.
The TLS handshake step by step — how browsers establish encrypted connections and verify server certificates.
How cryptographic hash functions work, why MD5 is broken, and how to store passwords safely with bcrypt.
Computerphile's channel for visual cryptography explanations — some of the best educational content on security topics.
How JSON Web Tokens work, their security properties, and common implementation mistakes to avoid.
The best way to go deeper on any topic is to read canonical open-source implementations. These repositories implement the core patterns covered in this course.
The Cryptography library for Python — the standard reference implementation for applied cryptography in Python applications.
Curated list of cryptography tools, libraries, and learning resources across multiple languages and platforms.
OpenSSL — the foundational cryptography library that powers TLS across the internet. The canonical reference implementation.
Google's Tink cryptography library — designed to be hard to misuse. Shows best practices for applied cryptography.
You are building authentication systems and want to understand the cryptographic primitives — JWT, password hashing, TLS — you're using.
You work in security and want a solid cryptography foundation beyond "AES is secure" and "use TLS." This course builds that foundation.
You review security designs and need to evaluate cryptographic choices. This course gives you the vocabulary and reasoning to do it.
The 2-day in-person Precision AI Academy bootcamp covers cybersecurity, cryptography, and AI security — hands-on with Bo. 5 U.S. cities. $1,490. 40 seats max. June–October 2026 (Thu–Fri).
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